Brought Up To Believe
by PurrfectChaosInfinity
Summary: In a world lit only by fire, powered by steam and made by science, is a fair and just ruler, Watchmaker Blaze. Beside her are her two subordinates, Sonic and Shadow, and in an odd elite force they protect the land. But what happens when all they were brought up to believe in fell down around them? Steampunk AU/Collab with SapphireShadow15
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The ashes fell as the smoke blotted out the sun. People scattered, as the fire threatened to engulf them as well as their possessions they held in their arms. The fire was almighty, it had raged for more than four days. No one was powerful, or daring enough to stop it. It had originated in the Pyya'r territories, where legend told of a fire spirit, wrathful and vengeful. Of course, the former Watchmaker paid no attention to such stories, they were merely child's play in his eyes. Such child's play was now burning up the entire city, the capital of the nation. The death toll would never be truly found, as many bodies of the unlucky were left to burn. It was currently raging through the slum in the city.

Just like any other major city, Addenia had its fair share of poor people, and Shadow was one of them. He was holding the hand of his best friend, Maria. She was the daughter of an alchemist, as was Shadow, and they both became good friends through their parents. They were rushing out of their homes, the arson was dangerously close.

"Come on, Maria! We don't have time to gather anything! We'll be lucky to escape with the clothes on our backs!" Shadow tugged her wrist urgently, his red eyes pleading with her to go.

"Shadow, please, let me grab the picture of you and myself," she asked, jerking his hand up and down in a mixture of pleading, whining and fear.

Shadow thought for a second, letting the fire rage even closer. He could see its reflection in Maria's eyes. She was almost transfixed, paralyzed in fear, partially what would happen to her home, and partially worried about their lives. She pushed the fear away, and resumed pleading. The picture, and their relationship, was much more important.

"Maria, be quick about it, please!" Shadow let go of her hand and called after her, his hand still out, as if he was still holding hers.

But there was no time. In a split second, Shadow's entire world went crashing down, literally. The small flat that they called home collapsed, Maria still inside. Shadow's eyes couldn't comprehend what he just saw, his mouth agape. The fire was literally upon him, and all he could think of was what he just witnessed.

"Maria!" he called into the burning rubble. He wasn't taking his chances anymore. He booked it as fast as he could out of the slum, with one sad, longing look back at the life he had.

~/~

It was quite a bit ago when that happened. He grew up in an orphanage, along with the multitudes of other kids who lost their parents to the all-consuming fire. He met Sonic, a blue hedgehog, in which he developed a strange relationship with. Sonic was extremely headstrong, and quite popular among the other orphans, all of which Shadow shunned. Shadow had learned about his reputation by overhearing gossip. Some would say that he saved at least a dozen people from the flames using his awesome speed, and some say he got out of there after his Uncle Charles died. But one thing was the same, and Sonic was the incarnation of the word 'good'. But as much as Shadow hated to admit it, he was grateful that the hedgehog stood by his side. They were quite the yin and yang to each other.

They grew up to be teenagers in the orphanage, learning how to fend for themselves, how to fight, how to be decent people. Shadow mentally skipped the 'decent people' classes, it just wasn't for him. If there was one thing he found himself doing, it was not being a decent person, but a soldier in Her Majesty's army. Yes, there was peace and prosperity under Watchmaker Blaze's rule. It would be an honor just to be part of something the Shadow knew got results.

_Watchmaker Blaze_, Shadow thought. The Lady of the Flame had saved the entire land from the fire spirit. As the story went, she was an apprentice under Professor Daedalus, the world renowned inventor and legendary man of the people. He developed the seven orbs that saved the citizens by absorbing the fire spirit, and ending the conflagration. According to rumors, the previous Watchmaker, Solias, set off the fire. He was quickly ousted, no matter whether the accusations were correct or not. The people were quite finicky when it came to a leader. And Blaze was doing her all to appease the people.

Sonic and Shadow had met her as she was visiting the orphanage they stayed at, more for political reasons, but it was a welcome visit nonetheless. They were teenagers at the time, and the oldest in the place they called home. As the guards came in, Shadow immediately knew what he wanted to be.

The power, the ability to stand up for what was right, and the freedom. It was almost intoxicating. And secretly, Shadow liked that fact that people looked up to him. It made him feel important. He would be able to do his best to atone for letting Maria die in the fire.

Shadow and Sonic both applied as soon as they could, for Sonic it was more of an adventure than anything, but to each his own, in Shadow's eyes. Currently, they were standing in front of Lady Blaze herself, wearing her tiara of metal salvaged and forged from the fire. She was looked down upon them with grave importance from her chair. Somewhere in the palace, gears clicked, and a blast of steam could be heard. The irony that the same tool that killed many multitudes of people was used to keep the cities running was not lost on Shadow.

"What do you think we're here for?" Sonic whispered to Shadow. the black and red hedgehog simply shrugged. In the distance, a caravan of steam-powered balloons made their way across the sky, bringing goods to Addenia.

Blaze stood and addressed the two soldiers in her presence, "Shadow and Sonic." They both turned their attention back to the Watchmaker, "I have an urgent matter for you to attend to."

"What is it?" Sonic interjected. He never really got the 'Respect for Authority' idea.

"If you wouldn't mind me saying what it is, I would like to go on," Blaze froze him with a stare. Sonic weakly smiled and dipped his head slightly to signify her to keep going, "There is a spike in crime in the Bristol slum, and I want you two to get to the bottom of it."

"Couldn't you just have our commanding officer tell us that?" Shadow asked.

"Not exactly. You see, the attacks are specified. Done only on other alchemists. I want to keep this under wraps, I do not want to scare the citizens or the police, and I can trust you two to do it. You know the lay of the land there; you know how alchemists work-"

"Um, Lady Blaze, my uncle was a blacksmith," Sonic interrupted again.

The purple cat glared daggers at him as she spoke again.

"Very well. You know how _blacksmiths_ work as well. Point is, I want you to get to the bottom of this. Can you do it?"

Sonic smiled, "Yeah. Of course."


	2. Chapter 2

The two hedgehogs had both left the palace after receiving the location of the latest crime, and they retrieved some supplies to help them through their journey; namely a map, enough rings to last a week in luxury each, and weapons for Shadow.

In addition to his Alchemic abilities, Shadow used state of the art guns, revolvers, shotguns and the occasional crossbow. He made sure each weapon was loaded and ready for use before he went out. Sonic, however, rejected the use of weapons, although one could find him sometimes out training with a sword, pretending to be a medieval knight.

Shadow currently looked at his surroundings, the villages and markets that had sprung up around the palace.

"Great, isn't it?" Sonic asked, eyeing a pretty minx working a market stall.

"Yes, commerce and trade working alongside agriculture and machine-made goods. An integral part of society," Shadow commented as he kept walking.

"No, I was talking about her," Sonic let his eyes point at her. As soon as Shadow looked over, the minx waved at him and flashed a smile.

"Focus, idiot. We need to get to the spot on the map before its nightfall."

"Well, can't I run and you use your powerful 'alchemy-based steam engine' shoes?" Sonic asked.

"No. They'll draw attention, and that's the last thing we want: to be noticed. You making eyes at that girl at the market stall isn't helping, either."

"Hey, man. Stay out of my love life," Sonic became serious, or at least as serious as he could be.

Shadow laughed at that one, "What love life?" Sonic's reply was inaudible and signified the end of the conversation.

* * *

It took a few hours to reach their destination, and by then the sun had already set. An airship touched down on a roof, and began unloading supplies for the stores below. Airships were big, horizontal oblong shaped balloons with a gondola below, powering the balloon with steam and heat. The one Sonic and Shadow saw currently was a smaller model, designed specifically for the purpose of making deliveries like the one in progress. On the side was painted Addenia's mail service logo.

"Hey, um, Shadow, it's nightfall. You think we should find some shelter or something?" Sonic asked, looking up into the sky. Very few people were on the street now.

"No. I have an idea. You go up to that rooftop up there," Shadow pointed to the building that the mail carrier had just left, "and I'll stay here on the ground."

"And how does that help our chances of finding this murderer?"

"If you even glanced at the map we were given, you'd see that we're standing in front of an alchemist's house in the zone where most of the killings took place," Shadow's annoyance was clear in his voice.

"Fine. Then can we check into a hotel? We weren't given rings to let them sit in our pockets," Sonic said.

"Y-Yeah, fine. Whatever. Just go up there and watch for anyone suspicious," Shadow growled.

"How will we communicate?" Sonic asked.

Shadow thought for a second, looked around, and saw what he was looking for. He went into a store and came back out with a bell, one used by patrons to signal a clerk for assistance.

"If you see anything or hear anything, just ring the bell."

"A bell? Really?" Sonic took it and looked at it.

"Can you think of anything better?"

Sonic's answer was to climb the fire escape up to the roof. Shadow took his place behind some crates in an alleyway, making sure Sonic knew where he was. Ten minutes later, the sun finished its journey across the sky, and someone came out and lit all of the candles in the street lamps. The lamplighter was the only one outside that night, and even he was in a hurry. He left, and an hour passed, and then another. Midnight came and went. Shadow was actually dozing off when he heard the bell ring.

He peeked out from behind the crates to see a red fox sizing up the building of the alchemist. He leapt and began climbing the brickwork towards the top. Shadow stepped out from behind the crates and into the glow of a streetlight.

"Hey!" he called.

The fox took one look at Shadow and bolted down an alleyway. Shadow chased, making as much noise as possible to arouse the sleeping residents. He gathered enough speed and let his shoes do the rest. Steam mixed with the energy created by the chaotic mixture of chemicals, creating a propellant of sorts. Shadow literally skated down the alleyway, catching up to the running fox. The fox had no chance as Shadow pounced, eyes intent on his target. What he didn't expect was the target to duck and make him miss entirely. Shadow landed hard on the ground as the assailant got away. Sonic came running in immediately after the short-lived scuffle.

"Did he get away?" he asked, looking down the possible paths the fox could've taken.

"Not if you go after him. He took the left path," Shadow grimaced as he sat up.

Sonic took off down the path. Shadow didn't actually know which path he took, but it would look better on an official report rather than just saying he lost him after a fight. Sonic was right, a hotel seemed great then. Maybe they had a warm bath...

"Nope. Sorry," Sonic came walking back, shrugging his shoulders.

"Damn it! He'll be back, but not tonight. Let's go find a hotel," Shadow stood, and brushed himself off, "There should be one just down the road."

"Are we sha—"

"No. And that's that."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was business as usual back at the mechanical workshop where Tails worked. Tails was what one would call gifted, to say the least. More accurately, he was borderline savant, without all the side effects that came with being one, and a crack inventor who made many gadgets by hand. A lot of pilots, knowing of his mechanical genius, asked for him by name if they needed a repair-and yet he was barely old enough to pilot the airships he fixed.

"Message for a... Miles Prower?" a messenger ran in holding up a letter.

A letter for him? At this time? Tails could barely believe it. He usually never met the people he worked for, and if he did, they didn't believe that he did all the work. He was too young, in their eyes. Tails snatched the letter from the carrier, said thank you, and busied himself opening it as the courier stood by, waiting for a response. Tails read aloud,

"Dear Tails, we're wondering if you could assist us with your gadgets and know-how, we're kinda stuck. Thanks, Sonic and..." Tails squinted to make out the small handwriting, "Shadow?" He set down the letter, grabbed some stationery next to the receptionist's desk and began writing, his twin tails bobbing up and down excitedly.

_Dear Sonic and Shadow,_

_I would love to, just let me know what you need and I'll be sure to bring as much as I can!_

_-Tails_

_PS: Thank you so much for letting me come along!_

Tails handed the letter to the messenger and tipped him a few rings, and watched him go off on a motored bicycle. It was quite large, any larger and Tails could've sat in it. He made a mental note to see if he could build one that was more practical, and probably faster too.

He went over to his storage space for all the stuff he made. Guns in one corner, random tools and other items for fixing things in another, and in the far back, more practical gadgets like grappling hooks and smoke grenades. He grabbed a backpack and started loading up with equipment, from ammunition, gunpowder, and weapons, to tools to more fuel for Shadow's shoes he built a while ago.

"I wonder if this is enough..." Tails mused.

There was a chime of bells at the door. Tails looked at the intricate clock on the wall, it had already been an hour. Maybe the motored cycle was practical. Sure enough, when Tails opened the door, the messenger was waiting.

"Messa- Ah, you're here. Well then, here you are," he handed Tails the letter, which he took it to a workstation and opened.

_Dear Tails,_

_Be sure to bring pretty much everything you can, including rings. You might be away from the workshop for a bit. Shadow says to bring more fuel, too. Don't forget that. That should be it. We've already paid the messenger a tip, so just focus on supplies and getting here. Enclosed is a ticket for the railway._

_Sonic and Shadow_

Tails thanked the courier, and then sent him off. The railway! Tails had never been on the railway before, there was no practical reason to go when he stayed in his workshop almost the entire time. The day was just getting better and better.

Tails grabbed his backpack and almost all the rings out of the cashier's box and ran out the door, only to realize he had left it unlocked and ran back to lock it. After checking the lock, he used his twin tails to rush to the railway. The ticket said for one o'clock in the morning, and he had fifteen minutes to get his seat and settle down.

Tails looked around at the city where he lived and worked. The air had a sense of perpetual dust in it, making everything seem dirty and brown. There were storefronts beside the road and sidewalk, which Tails walked on, while the occasional steam powered car would drive by. The roads were steep, Tails was pretty sure someone could slide down the street as long as they didn't hit a car. Beside the road were trees and the occasional person coming home from a bar or club.

He took a turn down towards the station of the railway station, a grand building with a huge arch, and an impossible number of people, even at this time. Tails took a deep breath and stepped forward with his ticket, his backpack, and an excited air.

"What brings you here to Memorial Station tonight, young lad?" The ticketmaster asked as he examined Tails' ticket.

"Um... business, I suppose," Tails answered nervously.

"Very well, lad. Just be sure to keep whatever's in your backpack in your backpack, holding a special ticket means nothing if dangerous items are used upon the railway. You understand?"

"Ah, yes sir," Tails didn't even notice the ticket said special cargo on it.

"Very good. Have a good trip." The ticketmaster punched the ticket, "The conductor will show you to your seat on platform SA2."

Tails thanked the ticketmaster and headed down into the heart of the station, where steam powered trains of all sorts.

"Platform...CD...S3K...SA1...SA2!" Tails muttered to himself, looking at the ticket one last time, and then sizing up the train. The behemoth belched some steam, and then stood quiet. The awesome piece of machinery was almost too much for Tails.

"Going to step aboard, young man, or are you going to stand there and enjoy the view?" The conductor leaned out of the train's entrance.

"No, I, um, I was going to get on. I was just looking. Sorry," Tails sheepishly shrugged and handed the ticket to the man. "Here."

"First class, huh? Well, then. Go up and to your right, to the second passenger car. You have Table 06. Enjoy your ride."

"Thank you, sir," Tails took the stamped ticket, got aboard and followed the directions to his seat. The table was empty at the moment, and Tails took the opportunity to hide his backpack in a compartment below the seat.

First class was quite luxurious. In the aisle was red carpet, slightly worn from the stewardesses and stewards walking by with carts and trays of alcoholic beverages for the adults and juice and water for the underage or non-drinkers. The tables were strictly wood, what looked like mahogany, and well-polished; the seating was faux leather, and extremely plush. The lighting was minimal, adding an ambiance to the passenger car. There were a few other people in the train, a family of avians, all in fancy dress; Tails couldn't make out what species they were. A lone vixen sat in the back, facing the entire cab, swirling a drink. Behind Tails was a young couple, enjoying the lights of the train station before they set out.

Tails sat down with a deck of playing cards and began shuffling to pass time. He wasn't tired like the young kids a few rows down, sleeping in their suits. In between his fourth shuffle, the conductor came back on the train, closing the door behind him.

"Welcome aboard! My name is Nathaniel Beauregard Morgan, and I will be your conductor today. If you should require anything, please just ask one of the friendly stewardesses. They will be more than happy to assist you in whatever you need. Complimentary drinks are shuttled down the aisles every five minutes, and food will be served halfway through our train ride if you so please. Have an enjoyable trip, and thank you for choosing Genesis Shuttle Company."

Tails went back to shuffling after Nathaniel left, and he eventually began a game of solitaire, playing until no more moves were available. He put the cards away and leaned back, looking out the window at the towns and plains, rolling hills and small cottages, farms and markets. Before long, Tails was fighting sleep. He tried resisting it, but his body gave in, and he shut his eyes and resigned his body to rest.


End file.
